


To Prove a Villain

by Caprichoso



Series: Ambiguity AU [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Ambiguity AU, Gen, Miraculous Ladybug PV, Moral Ambiguity, smashed into the regular series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 19:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caprichoso/pseuds/Caprichoso
Summary: Even in the wake of his loved ones' deaths, even trapped in a twisted version of the world he once knew, Gabriel cannot and will not turn his back on his duty as Chosen. He will protect Paris and its inhabitants... especially from those who twist the Miraculous to their own purposes.
A merger of the PV and regular universes, and an exploration of the possible motivation behind Hawkmoth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This universe is a bit topsy-turvy, but it's my way of explaining the potential motivations of Gabriel as Hawkmoth without delving into treatments I've already seen before. Miraculous Ladybug is told from a very specific point of view, and there is a whole lot of room for exploration so far, especially from the side of the "villain".
> 
> Also, I've tried not to make this an exposition-fest, but, like Lucy, I gotta whole lotta 'splaining to do.
> 
> Finally, be warned: if they don't appear alive and well in the regular series, they're dead here. Proceed accordingly.

_Tell them that God bids us to do evil for good;_  
_And thus I clothe my naked villany_  
_With odd old ends stolen out of Holy Writ;_  
_And seem a saint, when most I play the devil._

_-Shakespeare, Richard III_

 

In the movies, it always rained at funerals; it set the mood. Shades of blue and gray, somber clouds, a tearjerking theme playing softly on a piano- that was how it was supposed to be. The surrogate tears falling from the sky were akin to some divine permission for mortals to cry as well.

But it wasn't raining today. Not for Alice and Felix, who most deserved for the heavens to weep at their loss. For them the sun shone bright, indifferent, as though this day had been intended for a picnic rather than a funeral. It was wrong, some mistake in the jumble of cosmic paperwork, and if Gabriel only knew where to direct his complaint, perhaps he would have his wife and nephew back instead of these wooden boxes that would soon be shoved into little spaces in the mausoleum wall. Perhaps he would blink this all away and Alice would smile at him and little Adrien would scrunch up his face and Felix would make some juvenile attempt at sarcasm and their makeshift family would be whole again.

If all else failed, Gabriel would just settle for the right sort of weather for this damned funeral.

That wouldn't happen, though; life offered no mercies, small or large. Not the weather, and certainly not when it came to anything truly important. Felix was dead, Alice was dead, and Gabriel was left to pick up the pieces of a life he had barely managed to maintain while they had been at his side... if this was even truly his life.

A tug at Gabriel's elbow snapped him back into the reality of the here and now, where green eyes- _too familiar, too much_ \- looked up at him. "Papa, are we gon' go home now?" Adrien pleaded in the tone of a five-year-old being asked to understand concepts too difficult and painful for even adults to fully grasp.

Adrien was his son. Regardless of everything that was wrong with this reality, Adrien was here; Adrien was his world now. With that one immutable fact to anchor the universe, all else could be accepted.

"Yes, we'll be going..." Gabriel began, then choked on the last word and all its implications. Home was just the two of them now, two people in a house that had already needed Alice's presence not to seem as vast and impersonal as an airport. Tearing his eyes away from his son's in hopes of summoning a voice that wouldn't crack, he spotted a stocky little figure standing under the shade of a tree, some distance apart from the last few mourners.

At least the old man had respect for how these things were supposed to go.

"I will be arriving shortly," Gabriel amended, all of the emotions he'd been struggling to rein in instantly trapped behind a wall of ice. "Grigorii and Nathalie will take you back."

Adrien bit his lip, fighting tears. "But Papa-"

"Adrien, I will be there as soon as I can, but there are things I must attend to." Gabriel's voice was cold, far too cold, meant for employees rather than family. He'd never spoken to his son in that voice, and now that Adrien was all that he had left, it felt as though Gabriel was setting a precedent too awful to fathom. Another regret, another item to add to the list of things he would one day hope to fix. But not now; for now, he needed his composure, or he would fall to pieces in front of the man who awaited him.

The limousine bearing the last of Gabriel's family rolled away, and he was left alone by the coffins, staring at the open spaces they would soon occupy. Before today, two generations of Agrestes had been interred in this mausoleum in Père-Lachaise, two rows opened in the sleek marble façade that was reserved for the next twenty-something years, with automatic fifty-year renewals provided in perpetuity via a trust. The opening of that second row had come too early; that the third was being started today was unthinkable.

As Gabriel noted the positioning of the lowest empty space, something not unlike resentment simmered in his chest. Felix had been his brother's son, yes, and Gabriel had only been entrusted with the boy for six years, but part of him insisted that Felix should be placed farther to the right, closer to Alice's resting place.

Under the spot where Gabriel himself would eventually take up residence.

A soft clearing of the throat drew Gabriel gently out of his musings; another of the old man's better talents. "Gabriel," the shorter man said, voice and face as serene as ever.

"Fu," Gabriel replied with a nod, turning away from his family's tomb. A few seconds passed before he finally found the appropriate greeting stashed away in his memories. "Thank you for coming."

Fu bobbed his head once. "Thank you for allowing me to pay my respects."

With the sole pleasantry exchanged and the quota of requisite small talk unmet, the silence stretched and stretched, painful and heavy and no more of a refuge than the conversation that was to come. Gabriel fumbled for another topic. "How is Bridgette?"

"She is..." Fu paused, as though searching for words, then let out a sigh. "I am sure you are already aware. She does not have long."

Miraculous Cure, despite its name, had fallen short this time. Ladybug's kwami had had to prioritize, and stitching the fabric of reality back together had taken precedence. After that, there hadn't even been enough power left to fully heal Ladybug's wounds; bringing Chat Noir and Paonne back to life had been out of the question. And, in a perverse twist of fate, no one in this piecemeal world to which they had returned had any memory of Paris's heroes- only the civilian lives they had led remained.

No one but the remaining Miraculous holders would mourn these two- and soon, three- as anything out of the ordinary. That was perhaps the greatest tragedy of all.

Gabriel swallowed, forced himself to say something about everything that had happened. It was all wrong, all of it, yet Fu was just standing there as though this were any other sunny day. "They deserved a hero's burial." 

"Yes, they did." The old man nodded, and to others he might have seemed wise. All Gabriel could see was a man who used mystery and mysticism as a substitute for being straightforward. "I wish it could have been so, and I wish even more that their sacrifice had not been necessary in the first place, but-"

"Bridgette was too young." The words hung in the air, accusations going unspoken and yet understood by both parties. The blame, both deserved and not, was palpable.

Fu's brow furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"She was too young, too inexperienced, unfocused. That is why Miraculous Cure failed." With a deep breath, Gabriel nodded, more to himself than to Fu. "The next Ladybug and Chat Noir will be adults."

One of Fu's eyebrows rose. "'Will be?'" That curious lilt that had once seemed good-natured chiding was now obvious for what it was- mockery.

Ignoring the old man's tone, Gabriel gave another nod. "I've selected a number of candidates of varying backgrounds for your consideration. None have family ties to speak of, all have been informed of and accept the risk, and their chosen inheritors will be compensated generously in the event of their death. I personally recommend Nathalie Sancoeur and Grigorii Kholodov, but you may take your pick of these highly qualified _adults_." The last word carried a growl despite Gabriel's best efforts to keep his voice level.

"Gabriel," Fu said, eyes crinkling with that detestable mixture of patience and pity, "That isn't how the Miraculous work. You know that just as well as I-"

"I know next to nothing, old man, and the others knew even less!" Gabriel's finger trembled in the air, centimeters from Fu's eyes. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his hand and tugged his jacket straight, bringing his body and voice back under control. "You have kept your secrets for _decades_ , only revealing bits and pieces when you felt it absolutely necessary. We asked, you evaded or gave us a fraction of the truth, and only when disaster struck did you reveal the rest of what we should already have known. That is how Alice and I operated for twenty years, how Felix and Bridgette operated for two and a..." he trailed off, voice husky with the threat of tears he had no desire to shed in front of this man. "I have... always wondered. Only the Guardian can inform the Chosen of the three-year deadline before the kwami themselves do. If Alice and I hadn't insisted that they know from the beginning, would you have told them before the last possible moment?"

Three slow blinks passed before Fu spoke, and when he did, he took visible care in selecting his words. "I like to believe I ease the transition and prevent the Chosen from being overwhelmed. Many are not prepared for the full weight of their responsibilities-"

"Because you select _children_!" Blood roared in Gabriel's ears; it was all he could do to keep from shouting. "You pick your targets young, indoctrinate them bit by bit, brainwash them into complicity, and soon enough you have a little army of Miraculous-wielding child soldiers!"

"Did you not make each choice of your own free will, Gabriel?"

Gabriel snorted. "Free will requires understanding. If I had known twenty years ago what I know now, I would never have agreed. It's one thing to ask a child to jump into a river and swim to the other side; it's another to only ask him to swim to the other side once he's lost sight of the shore he started from. An adult is better equipped to make decisions of that nature, and you know it."

There was a pause; Fu stroked his goatee. "I see. Well, I regret that you feel that way, Gabriel, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do." He paused to straighten his posture. "This is the path you chose, regardless of our differing opinions on how much or little choice you had."

"That's not my point, Fu. Believe me, I am aware of my responsibilities, more so now than ever. My point is that you need to stop pretending that recruiting teenagers to wield this sort of power is excusable on your part."

"Each Miraculous finds its own Chosen," Fu admonished. "You might be surprised by how little say I have in the matter."

A horrible sneer crept onto Gabriel's face. "And yet it never seems to find an adult, does it? Not me or Alice in our time, certainly not Bridgette or Felix. It's the same throughout all of what little history on the Chosen I've uncovered- or was, in the world we lived in. I'm not entirely sure if this world is even the same one, but I'm willing to bet that all the Miraculous holders here were also selected as children. Weren't they?"

Fu gave a long, slow blink, expressionless. "I believe it is worth noting that the definition of a child has changed throughout history, as well." 

Gabriel sighed. "I am tired beyond words of your evasions, Fu, and frankly, I have no desire to speak with you ever again. Consider this a final goodbye." With that, he turned and began walking away.

"You know the rules, Gabriel," Fu's voice called out to him. "You cannot simply leave this behind when things become difficult."

Whirling with fists clenched, Gabriel strode back to tower over the old man, grating out every syllable. "Let us be clear: I will protect this city and the world from the powers that seek to destroy them until the day I die. That was my agreement with Nooroo, and that is my burden. If you wish to relieve me of that burden, then by all means, go ahead and kill me right now. Start over fresh. My Miraculous and Alice's are both at my home, easily found, and I'm sure you have the others already." He stood to his full height, presenting an easy target should Fu choose to do away with him there. "You have my permission, if it helps soothe your conscience."

A long, agonizing moment of uncertainty passed between them; however much Gabriel strove to keep himself open and accepting of either fate, a tiny voice in his head howled in betrayal. Nooroo was too far away to have such an effect on him. No, this voice was Adrien's. If Gabriel died, Adrien would truly be all alone. He had to stop, had to live, had to return home and keep Adrien safe-

Gabriel let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Very well; then I will keep watch over Paris as I always have. I will be holding onto the peacock as a safeguard, until you select the next Chosen. And mark my words, old man." Leaning down to bring his face level with Fu's, he dropped his tone to a murmur. "If you exploit children again to create the next Ladybug and Chat Noir, I will oppose you with every shred of my being, and I will save them from you before they are doomed to the same fate as I was. I will take their Miraculous, along with Alice's, and I will give them to people who are prepared for the lifetime commitment the kwami demand. And then we will all come for you, to replace your dynasty of manipulation and half-truths with honesty and openness. Do you understand, _Master_?"

Fu opened his mouth to speak, and for the briefest of moments Gabriel could swear he saw genuine hurt in the old man's eyes, but the expression of false serenity overtook it before he could react. "What I understand is that you are in pain, and that you need time." The old man's cordial smile stopped just short of his eyes. "I will leave now, but I hope that one day you will join me again for tea. Perhaps when we heal individually from this loss, we can better heal together. Because believe me, Gabriel, you are not the only one who mourns Alice and Felix, nor will you be the only one to mourn Bridgette." With that, Master Fu turned his back and began making his way across the cemetery grounds.

And Gabriel Agreste stood alone once more beside the remains of his wife and nephew, wishing more than anything that Alice were alive at his side, even if just for a moment of clarity. She would kiss his cheek and wrap her arms around his waist and tell him this was the right thing to do, or she would chew her lip and look away and he would know instantly that it was wrong.

Without her, though, he had no way to be certain.

**Author's Note:**

> Hooray moral ambiguity! Any comments or questions are welcomed and greatly appreciated. If you'd like to have a full-on conversation about this, you can find me on Tumblr: encontrasuya.


End file.
